Supermarket seeks resource consent

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A Countdown supermarket could be coming to Vogeltown despite concerns the city has enough of the big stores.

Hori St, between Brooklands Rd and Carrington St could soon be the home of New Plymouth's fourth Countdown supermarket.

A company called Brooklands Development Limited has applied to the New Plymouth District Council for a resource consent for the proposed supermarket.

The consent is currently being processed.

The site layout plans propose the supermarket would be located where a former car dismantlers used to be and the building itself would be 2100 square meters.

However, Grant McQuoid, chairman of the New Plymouth Chamber of Commerce, questioned whether New Plymouth already had more supermarkets than it needed.

There were already six in New Plymouth and another could be overkill, he said.

He also questioned if it was the right thing for the council to allow businesses to spread around the town.

"Having businesses together in town is a large part of providing a vibrant heart to the centre of the city," he said.

A spokeswoman from Progressive Enterprises, the company that owns and operates 168 Countdown supermarkets across New Zealand, said if the resource consent was granted they would then be able to say when the building was scheduled to open.

They would also be able to say how much the project was costing.

The entrance to and from the new supermarket would be from Hori St.

The site would have a total of 164 car parks.

A report by Bridie Fleming, the NPDC senior environment planner, said adjoining properties and the properties directly across the road from the site could be affected by the increased traffic, and two properties may be potentially affected by noise.

Written approval has not been obtained from any of the owners or occupiers of those properties, the report said.

Developer Shane Burwell said a small retail block would also be on site if the resource consent was granted and tenants would be sought for the space.

Ideally, he said, Brooklands Development Limited would be looking for a cafe, a pharmacy and a fast-food takeaway that wasn't a fish and chip shop.

"I live in that area as well so I know what's missing. There's nowhere up there to buy coffee," he said.

There is no other supermarket in the area, although the Vogeltown shopping complex does have a Four Square.

The proposed development has been mentioned in the agenda for the NPDC regulatory committee meeting on Thursday night at the council chambers.